JCC holds Annual Recognition Ceremony

Published June 19, 2014

Jefferson Community College (JCC) observed the retirement of eight faculty and staff and honored those for milestone years of service to the college at Jefferson’s annual Recognition Celebration held on Friday, May 2, 2014. Combined years of service to the college total 565.

The Spirit of Jefferson Award, bestowed to a campus team that exemplifies cooperative effort and achieves exemplary results, was presented to the JCC Relay for Life team. Since its inception in 2003, the JCC Relay for Life team has raised more than $60,000 and continues to grow adding new faculty, students and community members each year. The JCC Relay for Life team was selected from among six nominations.

Retirees are:

Debra J. Felice, of Watertown, was first hired at Jefferson as a part-time adjunct instructor of physical education in 1981. During this time, Felice was instrumental in the development of the JCC women’s soccer program and coached women’s softball, soccer and volleyball teams. In 1993, she was appointed as permanent physical education instructor, promoted to assistant professor in 1997 and is set to retire in August after more than twenty years of service to Jefferson.

John T. Gould, of Watertown, joined the NYS Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at JCC in 1987 as a business counselor. He was promoted to business advisor in 1997 and promoted again in 2009 to the position of senior business advisor. Gould has been at the helm of teaching Jefferson’s entrepreneurship course since its inception ten years ago. He retired in May after twenty-seven years of service to JCC’s campus and the North Country business community.

Jeffrey A. Landy, of Henderson Harbor, joined the college as a senior custodian in 2006 and retired from this position in May. Landy was responsible for supervising the midnight shift of custodians and cleaners at JCC and overseeing cleaning and floor care, snow removal and recycling activities during the 10:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. timeframe.

Mary E. Loftus, of Watertown, was hired by Jefferson right out of high school, and after thirty-seven years of service, she retired in February from the position of typist for the Jefferson Community College Foundation. Loftus was responsible for many day-to-day activities of the JCC Foundation and college development office including working closely with donors, gift entry and acknowledgment letters, and collaborating with the financial aid office regarding scholarships.

DeEtte M. Marshall, of Chaumont, was teaching Spanish courses for Jefferson’s concurrent enrollment program, EDGE, at Pulaski High School in 2001 when she was appointed as instructor of languages at the college. In 2004, Marshall was promoted to assistant professor and in 2010 promoted again to associate professor. In addition to serving as JCC’s only full-time languages instructor, Marshall served as the liaison with foreign language EDGE instructors. She retired in December.

Mary M. Newman, of Watertown, was first appointed to a permanent position at Jefferson as library clerk in 1983. In 1991, Newman joined the student activities office as the first assistant director of student activities and cultural affairs where she worked for the next twenty years. During her tenure at Jefferson, she served twenty years as advisor to the Tau Xi Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges. In 2011, Mary was appointed as alumni development officer, and it is from this position she will retire in June with thirty-one years of service to the college.

Elaine C. Welch, of Watertown, came to Jefferson in 1989 as an account clerk in the Bursar’s office. In 1998, she transferred to financial operations and in 2002 was promoted to senior account clerk responsible for accounts payable and weekly payroll for the college. It is from this position that Welch retired in December after twenty-four years of service to the college. During her tenure at Jefferson, Welch earned her certificate in accounting from the college.

Kenyon Wells, of Sackets Harbor, joined the college in 1995 as a library clerk. In 1998, he was promoted to senior library clerk and to library automation coordinator in 2004. He is responsible for ordering and processing new books, periodicals and serials subscriptions; copy cataloging and original cataloging in the Library of Congress classification system, and preparing all new library materials for inclusion in the library’s integrated library system. It is from this position that Wells will retire in June with twenty years of service to the college.